In American Digital’s latest episode of the IT Unfiltered Podcast—now available on Amazon Podcasts, and Spotify—we delve into relationship building and why it’s key to our clients’ success and our own operational growth. This honest discussion brings together Bob Panos, our VP of Sales and Services, Paul Guten, our VP of National Accounts, and Mary Galvanoni, our Senior Account Manager.
During the broadcast, we discussed the two main ways in which organizations approach sales and client services, those being either transactional or relationship based. So often, larger IT solutions providers will take a transactional approach, which means they’ll take an order, fulfill that order, and move on. While some companies may prefer a price and delivery (or transactional) approach, American Digital believes a trusted, long-term relationship is essential to successful IT solutions implementation, data center transformation, and managed services.
That doesn’t mean that American Digital would require a minimum order. But we do like to engage a technical resource prior to fulfillment simply to ensure that all hardware is compatible and that it aligns with our client’s environment. “To me, the relationship portion of it is more understanding the business need,” Mary explained, “understanding what it means to that person, what it means to the rest of the team, everyone…and how they want to accomplish their goals.” She went on to explain how that relationship helps to paint a complete picture around what they consider success within a project.
Trust being a big part of that relationship along with the assurance in knowing that American Digital can and will deliver—and that we’ll remain accountable to that promise. “Trust is everything,” Paul said. “It’s about knowing yourself and knowing your company and knowing what you can deliver on.” And while a transactional relationship is akin to a one and done sale, a relationship-based approach goes a step further to ensure every client is secure and confident in knowing their decisions and purchases fit underneath the umbrella of their long-term operational goals.
But what if a client prefers transactional business? “We are small enough that we can do all of those things,” Mary added, noting that, for companies preferring a transactional relationship, the team at American Digital will still look to add value where they can. “It’s almost like everything we do is a little bit customized,” explained Paul. “We can work with different facets of an organization and present materials to their liking. It’s not just ‘here it is, here’s how it’s supposed to be’ [cookie cutter].” Tune into the full conversation at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1781683/9706673-the-american-digital-team-talks-why-building-relationships-with-clients-is-key-to-our-success.mp3?download=true